Virtual Reality Based Treatments in Eating Disorders and Obesity: A Review

Abstract

Since the late 1990s the use of virtual reality (VR) has expanded in the field of mental disorders. During this time, several VR-based applications have been developed for the treatment of eating disorders (ED) and obesity. Both these pathologies involve disturbances related to eating behavior, weight, and body image. Although effective and well-established protocols are now available for the treatment of ED and obesity, relapses are frequent and a proportion of patients do not improve after intervention. In this context, VR has been shown to be a useful technology for enhancing traditional cognitive-oriented therapies. The main objective of this review was therefore to examine the evidence regarding the efficacy of VR-based treatments as a component of therapeutic interventions for ED and obesity. To this end, three databases (PsycInfo, Medline, and PsycArticles) were searched for the period 1986 to 2012. Only research articles and case studies were selected. Although several methodological deficiencies were detected in the reviewed studies, there is fair evidence for the effectiveness of VR-based treatments in ED and obesity. VR-based interventions usually combine exposure to VR environments with cognitive therapies. The VR component seems to be especially suitable for reducing body image disturbances, such as body image dissatisfaction, and for increasing self-esteem and self-efficacy. The rationale for the use of VR in these areas is also presented and discussed.

The Potential of Virtual Reality for the Investigation of Awe

“…We proposed VR as one possible solution to disclose awe potential. Several studies support the potential of VR as a transformative technology, able to induce a personal change (Ferrer-Garcia et al, 2013; Garrett et al, 2014; Den Brok and Sterkenburg, 2015; Riva et al, 2016b). VR allows simulating both our outer and inner world (Riva et al, 2016b), by enhancing individuals’ focus on themselves, thus recreating both external and internal correlates of our experience, but preserving highest levels of experimental control and ecological validity.…”

From avatars to body swapping: The use of virtual reality for assessing and treating body‐size distortion in individuals with anorexia

“…In the last 30 years, virtual reality (VR) has offered innovative solutions for assessing and treating body representation disturbances in AN (Ferrer‐García & Gutiérrez‐Maldonado, , ). The possibility of developing VR‐based applications specifically targeting body representation disturbances has advanced due to substantial progress in technology that now support the use of increasingly realistic and interactive “avatars.” The term “avatar” refers to the virtual self‐representations in digital worlds, including massively multiplayer online role‐playing games (e.g., World of Warcraft), online collaborative virtual worlds (e.g., second life), and videogames and virtual environments for clinical purposes (Gaggioli, Mantovani, Castelnuovo, Wiederhold, & Riva, ).…”

“…Uses of VR have continued to develop since these early innovative proposals. In fact, two recent systematic reviews concluded that VR offers significant advantages for the assessment and treatment of body representation disturbances (Ferrer‐García & Gutiérrez‐Maldonado, ; Ferrer‐Garcia et al, ). One of those advantages is the possibility to interact with realistic avatars that represent both the perceived and ideal body representation.…”

Recommendations for Methodology of Virtual Reality Clinical Trials in Health Care by an International Working Group: Iterative Study (Preprint)

“…VR has been used to assess and treat a wide variety of medical, surgical, psychiatric, and neurocognitive conditions including pain [1,2,4,9,13,18], addiction [20][21][22][23][24][25], anxiety disorders [3,6,7,15,[26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35], schizophrenia [10,11,[36][37][38][39][40], eating disorders [1,[41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48], stroke rehabilitation [5,16,[48][49][50][51], vestibular disorders [52], and movement disorders [53]<...>…”